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Young suffers broken finger

Young suffers broken finger

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By Shawn Shroyer
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MLB.com |

ARLINGTON -- Rangers shortstop Michael Young left Monday's game after the second inning with a fracture in his right ring finger. Young injured the finger in the first inning while sliding back to first base.

The initial prognosis is that Young will miss five-to-seven days, and neither he nor manager Ron Washington are anticipating a trip to the disabled list. In fact, Young is hoping he won't even be out five games.

"It's a small break, and really jammed, so when it goes down I'll be in there," Young said. "Nobody knows how bad it really is, but I can play through it once the swelling goes down."

Young singled to center field in the first inning -- his only at-bat of the game -- and scored later in the inning. Replays showed him rubbing his finger while he was at third base. Nevertheless, he stayed in the game until the end of the second inning.

Young suffered a small fracture in the ring finger of his left hand earlier in the season, but he doesn't think it will matter what finger it is in respect to how soon he can be back in the lineup.

"Once I know what it is, I can deal with it," Young said. "It won't really make a difference which hand it's on. I'll play through it."

For now, the team will have to find a way to play through Young's injury, as well.

After Young's exit, Ramon Vazquez shifted from third base to shortstop, while Chris Davis moved from first to third and Frank Catalanotto came off the bench to man first base.

Third baseman Hank Blalock was scratched from the starting lineup before the game with an upset stomach. Washington said he only would have inserted Blalock into the lineup in a pinch-hitting situation on Monday, but Blalock isn't expected to be out for an extended period.

Washington said Vazquez would continue to play shortstop in Young's absence, but said the team may make a roster move to give the club a backup infielder. That may prove difficult with German Duran, who has filled such a role this season, currently on the disabled list after having ligament replacement surgery on his left thumb.

However, even Vazquez doesn't expect to fill in for Young long.

"I think Mike's going to be fine," Vazquez said. "I'm not looking forward to doing anything other than what I've been doing."

Shawn Shroyer is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.